Module 4 - eNABLE Devices and How to Construct ThemHuge “Thank You” to Justine Diamond for creating this Module.

Module 4 Goal: To introduce students to assembly principles and lay the groundwork for building devices from printed parts and assessing the quality of those builds.

Note from Rich Lehrer: This curriculum is intended only to introduce students to the 3D printed prosthetics movement and intentionally makes no recommendations regarding an issue that is currently being hotly debated around the world: the giving of devices produced by students to child recipients. Students at Brookwood School have been creating devices for my son for nearly 4 years, and so I have seen the potential of this work to be successful - but this work has been hard...and has taken many years, and has necessitated the involvement of health care professionals, and my involvement as Max's parent and quality control agent. Schools interested in exploring the possibility of finding actual recipients for their devices should thoroughly research the pros and cons of crowd sourced and created devices and, if interested in finding out more, should consider contacting Jen Owen at Enabling The Future to find out about more about their school chapters program. Regardless of the involvement any school has with an actual recipient, however, it is my personal belief that no child, regardless of whether they have an upper limb difference or not, should use a 3D printed assistive device without first consulting a medical professional regarding the apparent appropriateness of the use of said device. eNABLE hands are not medical grade prosthetics and should be treated as such.

Know the criteria for an excellent hand and be able to devise tests to see if the hand measures up to a set of standards. Understand why quality checks and function checks are important.

Students should be able to explain why they are assembling the hand they’ve selected (module 2)

Lesson Introduction: Students will have already decided which hand to print. Before assembly begins, they should review why the decision was taken to build this particular model. Review the rubric for a good build with the students. Discuss how the hand will be tested. Students can devise additional assessments for the hands they build.

Lesson Body:1. Review eNABLE Devices2.Students should watch the following video (produced as a partnership between and Bergen Academies) as an introduction to a build event:3. Watch the following excellent video put together by ECF’s John Diamond about what constitutes a good build4. Discuss how students might test for these things and what additional things might be tested. 5. Ask students why quality checks are so important.

NOTE: if you’ve selected a hand that requires thermoforming: You will see in the Phoenix v2 files something called a thermoformed gauntlet. There are also options for a thermoformed gauntlet for the Raptor Reloaded hand. This is an innovation that allows one to print a hand gauntlet flat and then later heat it up and form it into the desired shape. A thermoformed gauntlet is stronger (especially at the hinge), uses less filament, and prints quicker than a traditional gauntlet. There’s also no support material to remove. For information on this technique and its benefits, please see this video. If the PLA discolors during thermoforming, it can be rejuvenated following these instructions:

NOTE: when printing out the pieces for the hands, consider the option to print out several DEMO BARS so that some hands can be used as demonstration models (“empathy hands”) : demo bar for Phoenix is on the thingiverse page with the files, Raptor Reloaded demo bar is here:

Lesson Conclusions:Students will be able to :

defend their decision of which hand to print

discuss how they will test the hands to be sure they operate correctly and are of high quality.

Discuss how they will decide which hands to submit to Enabling The Future

Because assembly can take several hours, students need to discuss a schedule and how they might work in tandem (see suggestions in the Phoenix assembly manual for working in tandem).

Please see Phoenix assembly manual for a list of suggested tools and a list of additional materials required for assembling a hand.

Lesson Objectives: Following this lesson students will:

Be able to follow written and video instructions for hand assembly

Work in teams or individually to safely and effectively assemble a hand from component parts

Lesson Introduction: Review safety guidelines. Identify all parts of the hand (for the Phoenix - be sure to identify the different fingers and snap pins). Gather/purchase the resources (tools, instructions, printed parts, screws, velcro, etc) needed for your selected device. Review instructions by reading and tip/hints through prior to beginning assembly. If tandem assembly is going to occur, decide who in the team will be doing what.

Lesson Body: Students will assemble the hands following the instructions. It is a good idea for students to work in groups of 3-4. It is unlikely that students will have enough time to build the hands in one session. Plan for at least 2 hours to build the hands.

Lay out all materials and identify all the parts of the hands. Set out tools and all the non 3d printed parts of the hand (screws, fishing line, dental elastics, velcro, foam padding, etc)

Double check the quality of all the pieces.

CAREFULLY remove the support material from the palm. For the Phoenix V2 the support should just pop out (video: ) If the palm is rough - it can be smoothed out if you have the right tool:

Before any assembly begins, review all the directions.

Assemble the hands following the step by step instructions.

Consider building one or two of the hands as demo (“empathy”) hands that students will be able to try on. (An additional printed item will be required - the demo bar. It will replace the palm mesh)

Lesson Conclusions: Have students reflect on their experiences with hand construction. Questions to consider:

What parts of the build were easy?

What aspect of the build was particularly challenging?

Could the instructions be improved?

How did the team work together to assemble the hand?

What did this work mean to you?

Lesson 4.3: Analysis of assembled devices

Lesson Objectives: Following this lesson, students will:

Have had an opportunity to think critically and evaluate the quality of each other’s builds and provide feedback using an eNABLE Device Quality Rubric

Test and evaluate hands for function - understand how a hand like this works

Have set out a plan to address /correct issues with the build

Design QC tests and evaluations

Decide, supporting recommendations with evidence, on the which hands operate with the highest quality

Select TWO high quality devices (both in print and function) to represent to the total body of work

Lesson Introduction:Review the criteria for a good quality hand. Review video for reviewing build quality. Discuss why it’s important to have quality control for hands. How does the hand work? Students can think of other tests for the hands - they should be thinking about - what can the hand do well? What could it do better? What are the limitations?

Lesson Body:

Each hand must be evaluated against the rubric created by Justine and John Diamond for : quality of assembly, ease of use, ability to grip, flexion and extension, looks, comfort, durability, angle of tension, component placement (fingers, whippletree and pins are all in the correct place)

Each group must test and evaluate each hand for function as part of the process. Conduct the tests listed on the rubric but students should be encouraged to come up with tests of their own. Have each group set out their hand so that other groups can review, test and assess the build

Groups receive feedback on their hands and where possible, correct errors

If Demo hands have been built, students should be encouraged to use these hands to do everyday tasks and evaluate the hand function against those tasks.

Selection process: It is important that only high quality hands be sent Enabling the Future. If the devices are staying in house, this is less important, but if the intent is to send the hands off for possible distribution to a recipient it is essential that the device(s) selected are of the highest quality both in terms of print quality and assembly. Students can engage is a critical thinking exercise to select which hands will be sent in. Hands that stay “in house” can be used to outreach work in the school and in the community.

Students can create a video about the process of building the hand - (examples )

Lesson Conclusions: Make a decision as to which devices best represent the work of the group. Keep in mind that the need is for high quality hands not a high number of hands. Other hands can be used for outreach work, testing, etc.